Agricultural land use in the nothern provinces of Russia: rural self-governments and local societies in the creation of pastures and public grass cultivation, late 19th – early 20th centuries

Abstract

Within environmental history of Russia it seems important to touch upon the stages of mainstreaming sustainable use of agricultural land, one of which was associated with the stimulation of rangelands. A study focuses on the non-chernozem provinces of central and northern Russia, where the climate and soils did not allow for high grain yields, while the development of animal husbandry called for an expansion of fodder resources. An important tool to improve forage supply, proposed by agricultural science, is meadow and field grass cultivation. Rural self-governments and social agronomy, along with the state, turned out to be a conductor of this method in a peasant environment. An insight is given as to how complex green manuring rotations was “instilled” in the peasant economy. The paper analyzes peasants’ reflections towards grass sowing, establishes the reasons that hamper its assimilation, critically evaluates the mythologeme of “silence” of the peasantry. The paper traces back circumstances to cause a shift from intensive land cultivation and a changing structure of the peasant economy in the 1910s.